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Rich Pauloo, PhD
I spend most of my days writing code (mostly R, Python, SQL) to clean, visualize, and model data. I have a PhD in computational hydrogeology, where I simulated and visualized 3D contaminant transport in aquifers.
I’m an exert-level #rstats user. A few projects I’m proud of include R packages to query water quality data 📦 and text yourself from R 📱, R data science curriculum 📚, a dashboard that makes millions of water quality observations understandable 📈, and a model that predicts the risk of wells going dry 💧 funded by Microsoft’s AI for Earth Grant.
Education
PhD, Hydrogeology
University of California Davis
Davis, CA
2020 - 2015
- Published 6 scientific papers (3 first-author).
- Tools used: R, Python, SQL, git/Github, bash, AWS, cron, dplyr, ggplot2, shiny, flexdashboard, leaflet, sf, MODFLOW, RW3D, Paraview, Illustrator, ArcGIS, Envi, LaTeX
- Won ~$153,000 in national, compeitive grants and awards from NASA, Microsoft AI for Earth, AGU, and others.
B.S., Integrative Biology (minor in Conflict Resolution)
University of California Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
2011 - 2006
Professional & Research Experience
Data Scientist
Larry Walker Associates
Berkeley, CA
present - 2020
- Built and automated ETL pipelines for ~180 real-time sensor networks and dashboards that process > 100,000 daily observations.
- Turned messy data into actionable information and automated reports.
- Tools used: R, Python, SQL, git/Github, bash, AWS, cron, dplyr, ggplot2, shiny, flexdashboard, leaflet, sf
- Managed multiple six-figure contracts, scoped work, contributed to strategic marketing, and trained staff.
Co-Founder
Water Data Lab
Remote
present - 2020
- Manage $105k in annual contracts for specialized data science consulting.
- Co-developed r4wrds.com
Data Engineer
UC Water
Davis, CA
2020 - 2018
- Developed a monitoring dashboard with interactive data visualization using AWS with R, SQL, Shiny, and Shiny Server. I also built an automated ETL pipeline that pulled data from an IoT sensor network to feed the dashboard. REsults were peer-reviewed and published.
Data Lab Researcher
Computational Institute for Geodynamics (CIG)
UC Davis
2019 - 2018
- NLP, text mining, and network analysis in R on a corpus of ~600 PDFs.
- Developed a R Shiny dashboard to understand the corpus.
- Results were peer-reviewed and published.
Publications
Mean flow direction modulates non-Fickian transport in a heterogeneous alluvial aquifer-aquitard system
Water Resources Research, 10.1029/2020WR028655
N/A
2021
- Pauloo, R. & Fogg, G.E. & Guo, Z. & Harter, T.
Development of a remote sensing based method to estimate changes in groundwater storage
Science of the Total Environment, 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150635
N/A
2021
- Ahmed, A. & Sarfaraz A. & Pauloo, R. & Knight, R. & Melton, F.
A low cost, open source wireless sensor network for real-time groundwater monitoring
N/A
2020
- Calderwood, A. & Pauloo, R. & Yoder, A. & Fogg, G.E.
Domestic Well Vulnerability to Drought Duration and Unsustainable Groundwater Management in California’s Central Valley
Environmental Research Letters, 10.1088/1748-9326/ab6f10
N/A
2020
- Pauloo, R. & Dahlke, H. & Escriva-Bou, A. & Fencl, A. & Guillon, H. & Fogg, G.E.
Anthropogenic Basin Closure and Groundwater SALinization (ABCSAL)
Journal of Hydrology, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125787
N/A
2020
- Pauloo, R. & Fogg, G.E. & Guo, Z. & Harter, T.
Assessing Impact of Outreach through Software Citation for Community Software in Geodynamics
Computing in Science & Engineering, 10.1109/MCSE.2019.2940221
N/A
2019
- Hwang, L. & Pauloo, R. & Carlen, J.
Grants and Awards
Microsoft AI for Earth (national)
$37,571
N/A
2020
- gspdrywells.com, AI-enabled forecasting of domestic well failure.
AGU Outstanding Student Presentation (national)
$200 and free 2020 registration
N/A
2019
- Awarded to the top 3-5% of presenters. View presentation.
2019 California Water Data Challenge (statewide)
$1,500
N/A
2019
- Created calwaterquality.com, a statewide data portal that integrates and visualizes massive water quality data sets, and auto-generates water quality reports for more than 2,000 California public water systems.
- Blog post about the project summarizing my motivation.
NASA Data Visualization Competition (national)
$1,400
N/A
2018
2018 California Water Data Challenge (statewide)
$1,500
N/A
2018
- Used large state databases to build and calibrate a predictive model of domestic well failure in California’s Central Valley.
NSF-GRFP Honorable Mention (national)
N/A
N/A
2016
NSF-IGERT in Climate Change, Water and Society (national)
$111,000
N/A
2015
Selected Data Science Writing
Certifications
Wilderness First Responder
N/A
National Outdoor Leadership School
N/A
Software Carpentry Instructor
N/A
Software Carpentry
N/A